It’s More Fun in Bicol: Our Third Day Bicol Itinerary – Day 3

It’s our third day and our whole day itinerary was all about Fun, Food, Adventure and anything in between. Most of us woke up early to capture photos of World’s Perfect Cone – The Mayon Volcano. Im glad we stayed at the Oriental Hotel in Legazpi City – a hotel that is located on top of a hill that is also famous for providing a great vantage point for those who wants to take photos of the Volcano before it gets covered by clouds.

Mayon Lava Trail ATV Adventure

After having an impressive buffet breakfast at the Oriental Hotel, we left early for our Legaspi rolling tour. Our first stop was at Magsaysay Avenue then we passed by other landmarks in Legazpi City such as the San Gregorio Magno Church, Legazpi City hall and Peñaranda Park. After the short tour of Legazpi City, we visited the Legazpi Grand terminal which is famous not just as a transport hub but also as a pasalubong center for people who loves souvenir shopping.

Legazpi Grand terminal Pasalubong Shopping Center

This is where you can find, Bicols finest delicasies, handricrafts and other products that are proudly made in Bicol. I was able to buy pili nut candies, ginger tea, chili key chains and a buri bag for my mom. From the Legaspi Grand Terminal, we visited Albay Pili Factory – Legazpi’s oldest and most famous maker of Pili based candies.

After the morning splurge, we proceeded to the First Colonnial Grill Restaurant for cooking demo and food tasting. The head chef showed us how to prepare and cook Tinutngang manok – a native chicken cooked with coconut milk from burnt grated coconut. I love the smoky guinataan taste of the sauce, another recipe to tryout at home:).

Pasta in Olive Oil with bits of Guinobatan Longanisa

One of the dishes we tried is their version of Ibos, more than just the ordinary sticky rice with coconut milk wrapped in young coconut leaves, their Ibos is filled with Bicol Express and the other variant is filled with guinobatan longganisa. Truly an interesting twist!

Tinapa Fried Rice

Their Tinapa Fried rice is also good, Imagine your fried rice topped with salted egg, tinapa bits, fresh tomatoes and green mangoes. For those who wants a light meal, they also served Pasta in Olive Oil with bits of Guinobatan Longanisa which is best paired with their best selling fried vegetarian spring rolls.

Grilled Spareribs

We also sampled two of their best selling dishes like their version of Kare-Kare and Grilled Spareribs in traditional barbeque sauce. For dessert, we sampled their famous Sili Ice Cream – a sweet hot chili flavored ice cream that will truly excite your palate. Don’t worry the chili flavor is really mild and it wont make you teary eyed.

Sili Ice Cream

After our sumptuous lunch, we proceeded to Camalig to visit the famous Hoyop Hoyopan Cave. The cave is famous for its well ventilated surface which was named for the wind that passes freely through the different openings in the cave. In Bicolano “Hoyop” means “blowing of air or wind.”

Travel Bloggers and Travel Writers at Hoyop Hoyopan Cave

We also visited Camalig Tourist Center – a tourist information center that also serves as pasalubong shop and a gallery of locally made handcrafted products like paintings, ornaments, t-shirts and various souvenir items. Before leaving the tourist center, they also served an interesting Merienda – a burger bun filled with pinangat which they call “Pinangat Burger”. It was such an interesting twist for people who loves burger but are either vegetarian or just plainly controlling their diet.

Another Group Shot at Hoyop-Hoyopan Cave

After seeing some of the heritage houses in Camalig, we proceeded to Cagsawa Ruins for a short photo opt then we headed to “Your Brother Travel and Tours ATV” headquarters in Brgy. Pawa Legazpi City. We watched a short marketing video presentation about the ATV provider then we had a short test run on the starting area.

ATV Test Drive

From the headquarters, we braved the 9 kilometer ATV trail that stretches from Brgy Pawa all the way throught the small rivers and open gulley of Mayon Volcano. We also passed by small communities before we reached the foot of Mayon Volcano.

Mayon Lava Trail is Fun Fun Fun

Upon reaching the basecamp which is under the 6 kilometer radius of Mayon, we parked our ATV’s then we walked towards the the lava front that has a lava reserve from Mayon Volcano eruption last 2006. It was a short but serious uphill trek which involves crawling trough lava rocks until we reach the helipad which was constructed in the area for rescue operations.

Getting Closer to the Volcano

Upon reaching the Lava front, I was amazed with the 360 degree view of the majestic Mayon Volcano and the birds eyeview of the whole city of legazpi with Albay gulf. It was really worth the hike, the experience and the breathtaking view is truly priceless.

Mayon Volcano Lava Wall

After the short trek, we headed back to the base camp to prepare for another ATV ride back to the ATV headquarters. The trail going back to the City is much more smoother but the experience is equally unforgettable.

Our Legaspi, Daraga and Camalig Albay adventure is part of our 5-day Media Familiarization Tour organized by the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) in preparation for the 24th Philippine Travel Mart 2013 to be held September 6-8 2013 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

Group Shot at the Mayon Volcano Lava Front

Philippine Travel Mart aims to provide quality and affordable tour packages for famous and emerging tourist destinations in the Philippines.

Mayon Lava Trail ATV Adventure

The Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA), Inc. is an organization of tour operators and allied members actively involved in the advocacy of responsible tourism. For more information, visit www.philtoa.org.

Melo Villareal is the Online Publisher of Outoftownblog.com. He is an Accountant by profession who left the corporate world at the age of 23 to explore his beautiful country and the rest of the world. Today, Melo works as a part-time Social Media Manager for local and international clients. His full-time work focuses on discovering interesting culture, explore different cuisines and take memorable photos from local and international destinations he's visiting.